Summer 2007 Fashion
Designer Don Protasio shares his hot, hot forecast for summer
OKAY, it's summer already and everybody would agree that every day poses a challenge to one's ability to look great despite the sweat and whatever discomforts that the season brings.
You can't be caught wearing just a simple top and very short shorts, right? Hey, one has to be fashionable still and it's best to be caught in-season.
Don Protasio of the Designers Guild of Iloilo City has ideas on what's in this summer.
"Based from what I saw from the recent Fashion Week, there is a combination of the traditional styles and that of futurism. For example, the traditional embroidery and the 'barong' are mixed with futuristic elements," Protasio said.
"Also, fashion has become restrained. There is focus on minimalism but in a way that there is a certain kind of reverse snobbery. The Bohemian look is out. There could be richness, yes, but it's already paired down," he added.
He observes the surge of 90s techno fabrics that make use of techno techniques. "For example, one makes use of cashmere and cotton, which are old materials but cut in a futuristic way. Despite its futuristic element, it remains warm. This is because people are becoming practical. They want something they can use again even in the next season."
Another trend he sees for this summer is the focus on global ethnicity.
"Most designers project this in their collections. They mix different cultures in one dress. In one dress, you can have one portion that makes use of the French influence, and the other areas have the Chinese or Japanese element."
Protasio revealed that this was influenced by the fact that traveling had been made easy for everybody. "This affects fashion," he said.
"Being Filipinos, we should be included in these trends like pushing for our own fabrics and by making clothes that are of top quality," he said.
He said that the Fashion Week is a good venue for Filipino designers to 'voice out' that there is such a thing as Philippine fashion and that it is wearable.
Protasio is known for his avant garde fashion style. "But what I design is still something wearable. It's weird but wearable."
After all, the body is the best canvas there is and clothing it in the most creative way you can, speaks of a dynamic attitude that Filipinos need to have.
"We call this the romance of the future," Protasio concludes./KV